Obama’s people love values, values, values
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- September
- 19
Barack Obama’s people are still gunning for the religious vote. Votes. Voters.
His national director of religious affairs, Shaun Casey, just told us: “We are going to go out there and communicate Barack Obama’s values to people of faith.”
He said that Obama people are about to hold a series of town hall forums around the country to talk values. It’s called the Faith, Family & Values Tour. There won’t be an opening band (I think).
Casey made clear that the campaign is aiming at moderate values voters, people who are not single-issue voters (as in abortion). In Ohio, for instance, they’re talking to mainline Protestants. In Indiana, they’re going after United Methodists, not Southern Baptists.
Makes sense.
He said the campaign has a national faith outreach staff, staff in the field talking to people about values, outreach coordinators for Catholics, Jews and Muslims, and people who try to get on conservative Christian talk radio.
They also have “American values house parties” across the country in people’s homes (yeah, that’s what they’re called) to talk values, values, values.
Casey, who teaches Christian Ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary, seemed super-guarded, very cautious about saying the wrong thing or being misunderstood by a giant room filled with reporters.
Asked about the Palin effect, he said “We’re just trying to go about our outreach the best we can.”
He did say that Obama has the most robust religious outreach campaign in Democratic history.
“None of this was happening before,” he said. “It’s not because of us, but because of Barack Obama. It is a new day in Democratic politics.”
Joshua DuBois, Obama’s evangelical outreach coordinator, said he’s traveling the country trying to bring young evangelicals to the Democratic side. “My experience tells me something is afoot among young, college-educated evangelicals.”
He said that Democrats want to connect their politics to their values.
“One of the secrets of this campaign is that Obama does have an army in the field,” he said.
Are Obama’s people presenting a, well, overly rosy picture here? Yeah, probably.
John Green just told us a couple of hours ago that Obama is not making inroads with evangelicals (see below).
Mark Pinsky, until recently the religion writer for the Orlando Sentinel, said he has seen no sign of the Obama campaign in central Florida’s vast evangelical community.
And Florida is a key contest in this campaign, is it not?
This entry was posted
on Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 4:38 pm by Gary Stern.
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The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
Love the headline…indeed, if they had used the word “values” one more time, well, i would have locked them in a room with the pastor we heard from at lunch.